Rank Sonar
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·4 min·Mark Vivanco

How to use the "top 3 apps per keyword" view to find competitors

Most ASO tools treat keyword tracking and competitor tracking as two separate features. They're not. They're the same loop run on different inputs.

Here's the workflow we use at Rank Sonar internally and recommend to every customer in onboarding.

Step 1: Add the keywords you already know

Start with the obvious ones — the terms you'd guess people search for. For a meal planning app: "meal planner", "recipe app", "grocery list", "weekly meals". Aim for 15-20 terms in the first sitting. Don't overthink it.

Step 2: Read the "Top 3 apps" column

Every keyword in the optimization table shows the three apps currently ranking #1, #2, #3 for that keyword. This is the most underrated column in any ASO tool.

For each tracked keyword, you now have:

  • Three confirmed competitors who already rank for terms you care about
  • Visual proof of who Apple's ranking algorithm thinks is in your space
  • Implicit segmentation (the apps that win different terms tell you different audience cuts)

Step 3: Add the unfamiliar apps as competitors

Some of those Top 3 will be expected — apps you'd already mentally categorized as competitors. Others will surprise you. Add the unfamiliar ones with one click.

The pattern: an unfamiliar competitor showing up in 3+ of your keywords' Top 3 lists is almost certainly a real competitor you missed. Apple's ranking is opinion-aware — its algorithm has decided your audience is their audience.

Step 4: Watch their keywords appear in your suggestions

Once you've tracked a competitor for 24 hours, Rank Sonar starts surfacing the keywords they rank for that you don't. These become candidate keywords to add to your tracking.

This is the flywheel: keywords surface competitors → competitors surface keywords → those keywords surface more competitors → repeat.

Step 5: Stop manually researching

The first iteration is manual: you input keywords from your gut. The second iteration is mostly clicking suggestions. By the fourth or fifth iteration, your competitor and keyword lists are nearly complete and the system is running on its own.

This is also why we don't charge per-keyword. Charging per-keyword punishes the very behavior that makes ASO work — adding more keywords reveals more competitors and surfaces more opportunities. We absorb the data cost.

Try the workflow with a 14-day free Pro trial. [Start tracking](/pricing) — no credit card.